NEW DELHI, November 14 (Aalimi Nation) – Opposition parties have questioned the Centre's reported plan to convene a special session of Parliament on the Delimitation Bill, while leaders of the ruling alliance have defended the move and linked it to women's reservation. No session has been formally called.
Reports say the government is considering a special sitting to pass constitutional amendments tied to delimitation and to put into effect the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. The proposal would expand the strength of the Lok Sabha, which stands at 543 seats. Congress leader Valiboyina Gurunadham said it could rise by about 50 per cent to roughly 815.
The government side
Union Minister Chirag Paswan said the government wants to bring delimitation and the Women's Reservation Bill together to increase representation in Parliament. Using Bihar as an example, he said its 40 Lok Sabha seats would rise to 60 under a 50 per cent increase, with one-third of them reserved for women. He said Opposition leaders did not appear to understand the linkage, and that southern states worry about being disadvantaged by a population-based exercise.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said delimitation is necessary because the population and the number of eligible voters are growing. Shyam Rajak, general secretary of the Janata Dal (United), said the decision rests with the government. He said he had been informed the session is "primarily intended" to discuss the Women's Reservation Bill, and expressed hope that it would pass.
The Opposition's questions
Congress MP Manish Tewari said on Saturday that "you cannot do delimitation under the guise of women's reservation". He said the Women's Reservation Act was approved by Parliament three years ago, and argued that one-third of the existing 543 seats could be reserved for women, with a similar arrangement for state Assemblies. "No session has been called yet," he said.
Congress leader Udit Raj accused the BJP of delaying women's reservation, noting that the Bill passed in 2023 and that his party demanded its implementation in 2024. Gurunadham questioned why the reservation must be linked to delimitation at all, calling the linkage "nothing but a fabricated falsehood".
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Verma claimed that the BJP tried to bring the Bill in the Monsoon Session but lacked the numbers. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said a two-thirds majority is needed to pass the Bill, which he said the National Democratic Alliance does not have, and argued that women's reservation should be implemented on the existing strength of the House. CPI(M) MP V Sivadasan alleged that the exercise is meant to help the BJP retain power. These are the claims of the individuals quoted, and the government has not responded to the allegations about numbers or motives.
Background and what next
The Women's Reservation Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women, was passed in 2023 and is awaiting implementation. Delimitation refers to the redrawing of constituency boundaries.
The government has not announced a date for any special session, and the exact provisions of the proposed amendments have not been made public.
